Too much game!! There was absolutely nothing left on the cutting room floor and I think the entire game suffers for it. I would've adored a more arcadey version of this game with timed dives followed by the evening restaurant shift. Instead I spent sometimes hours at a time on dives completing content that did not feel very rewarding and often made me forget about the sushi restaurant entirely. Even then, the amount of work I put in to try and maximize restaurant profits never seemed worth it past a certain threshold of diving upgrades. At a certain point this game becomes Stardew Valley plus a diving game plus a restaurant sim except it doesn't give much motivation to optimizing that experience. It simply feels like I'm playing several different games.

I believe in Pikmin. I am certain that human life will end through nuclear war or ecological negligence, and someday a funny little man will land here on a spaceship and pluck doting vegetable guys out the ground to fight mutant spiders and frogs. I think the setting raises interesting and prescient ideas about the nature of survival and social hierarchies. It's the central reason I have such a problem with Pikmin 1 receiving a staight-to-VHS comedy sequel.

Having survived the first game by the skin of his teeth, Olimar arrives home and is immediately sent back to Pikminland because his boss is skint. I hate this miserable coda. I hate that his longing to see his family again is put on hold to chase money. I hate that earth is immediately seen as a place to mine for resources. I think there's a kind of dark satire about capitalistic greed in it, but I do not enjoy this part of the fantasy. I feel sick.

Pikmin 2 isn't a game about survival anymore. There's no time limit, except the daily clock, which seems more of an irritation here than the structural grounding it served as in the original game. The game's more willing to kill off your Pikmin now, because you can just go farm more. Olimar and Louie can stay here as long as they want, and seemingly, the only reason to rush is to complete the game with a score you can boast about. There's still the familiar Pikmin gameplay, but that's largely relegated to the overworld sections. The bulk of Pikmin 2's content is found in the caves; RANDOMLY GENERATED dungeons with a series of floors to excavate treasures from. Pikmin 2's quite antithetical to 1's carefulness. The Pikmin are fodder now. If they die, tough luck. Fuck your wasted time. Go find some more and try again. They probably don't have souls, right?

I've got as much distaste for randomly generated content and roguelikes as anyone, and it's a big sticking point with the game for me. It's tempting to lay it on too thick. In reality, Pikmin 2 is generating content from a fairly well-crafted library of pieces. There's still humanity in the product. Some cave floors are clever and creative. One uses a toy train track to create a central barrier that Pikmin can walk on top of without falling off, but they can walk under the drawbridge. It's cute and smart, even if it does undercut the game's setting pretty dramatically. Random elements generally come in the form of enemy and item placement, and it never creates anything unplayable, even if there are a few too many dead ends and groups of explosive nightmares.

This review follows the new Switch release of the game. It's an awkward thing. I became a Pikmin fan through the original Wii U release of 3, and the New Play Control versions of 1 and (to a lesser extent) 2. To me, pointer controls are just how Pikmin is supposed to play. I'm aware there's GameCube folk who think being able to aim all over the screen messes with the intended balance, but it's just a much more deliberate aiming system than wobbling a cursor based on where your character's facing. I think 4's implementation of a lock-on system was a decent compromise, but Nintendo's already come up with the solution to this problem. Going back to the classic controls feels like playing an FPS on the Dreamcast. There is motion control support in here, but it's the airyfairy implementation from 4, where you can manipulate your cursor within the character's throwing range, and it doesn't feel any easier or more intuitive than just accepting the rudimentary 2001 standard.

In an act of curious apathy, Nintendo have chosen to base the widescreen implementation on the Wii version's clumsy presentation. While gameplay and cutscenes are presented in a native 16:9 aspect ratio, menus and text are consistently stretched to fit the dimensions of modern TVs. As the traumatised Captain Olimar is sent back to PNF-404, I'm being dragged back into the horror of friends' 2004 living rooms to suffer wrong-looking Simpsons.

I'll admit I've had a better time with Pikmin 2 on Switch than I did on my initial Wii playthrough. Knowing this is the one I didn't have much emotional attachment to helped warm me to the idea of the Pikmin gameplay grab-bag. It's a shallow pleasure, and I'd be callous enough to suggest its biggest fans have shallow appreciation for the games' setting. That said, previous releases of the game featured licensed products as its "treasures", and I've always felt a bit of a thrill from their subversive implication. The human race is dead, and the only remaining evidence of their civilisation is capitalistic waste. The Duracell batteries and Haribo bags are, understandably, not in this new version, I'll always have a bit of respect for Pikmin 2 for how it egged corporations into painting themselves as the problem.

Some people think Pikmin 2 is the best in the series. Who am I to say otherwise? Maybe you'll love it. I just hope I helped you understand why I really don't.

I thought the story structure and the multiple protagonists were pretty cool, but the execution itself I wasn't big on. It took the story a lot longer to engage compared to previous games and splitting the game up like this definitely makes it suffer a bit with the wider scope story it's trying to tell. The wider story isn't even something I found particularly interesting or engaging until a bit further in when the pieces start coming together.

Gameplay is fine. I appreciate the new characters and wider variety of movesets. It's fun, but I'm not big on the engine they've used for Yakuza 3 and this game. Definitely still feels a bit jarring coming off the more polished 0, Kiwami and Kiwami 2, but that isn't a fault of the developers when they originally released these games so I mean that's more of a nitpick if anything. 3 had elements that endeared it to me, but this game I feel is still a bit lacking in some departments.

It's not a bad game, just not one of my favourites.

I've come to make an announcement: Providence's a bitch-ass motherfucker. He pissed on my fucking wife. That's right. He took his humanoid fuckin' quilly dick out and he pissed on my FUCKING wife, and he said his dick was THIS BIG, and I said that's disgusting. So I'm making a callout post on Petrichor V. Providence, you got a small dick. It's the size of this Bustling Fungus except WAY smaller. And guess what? Here's what my dong looks like. That's right, baby. Tall points, no quills, no pillows, look at that, it looks like two Colossal Knurl and a Crowbar. He fucked my wife, so guess what, I'm gonna fuck the Planet. That's right, this is what you get! My SUPER LASER PISS! Except I'm not gonna piss on the Planet. I'm gonna go higher. I'm pissing on the MOOOON! How do you like that, MITHRIX? I PISSED ON THE MOON, YOU IDIOT! You have twenty-three hours before the piss DROPLETS hit the fucking Planet, now get out of my fucking sight before I piss on you too! Copied!

My main thought when I finished my first run of RoRR was something along the lines of 'I swear there were way more chests than this', but after sitting on it for a little bit I remembered - I prefer it that way! Even when I was really into RoR2, the original was always sitting there at the back of my mind, and a big part of it is because it's *less* of a power fantasy. It's not hard to get to a point in the sequel where it's basically 3D Vampire Survivors and the game is quite literally playing itself, and at the wilting old age of 23 I simply do not get anything out of that - the biggest challenge at that point is fighting through all the aggressive overstimulation only to see that I haven't actually done anything myself in the past 20 minutes. RoR1, in contrast, is generally a lot more restrained - slower, more methodical and less immediately gratifying, where positioning is much more important and slight missteps are punished a lot harder.

Not to risk romanticising it, though - it's still a post-Isaac roguelike about stuffing yourself with slight passive buffs in the hope of pulling the fabled 'god build' and tearing the game into tiny little pieces. (it's not exactly a god build, but I did get pretty crazy luck in my run earlier!). Runs still live and die almost entirely based on how lucky you get, and it still wants your tiny little monkey brain to light up like a fireworks display when you do get lucky. Yet there's something weirdly captivating about it all the same that lets it stay fondly remembered by me - the #1 biggest roguelike hater of all time (as voted by me) - when I can't help but feel pretty 'eh' about RoR2 in retrospect. Could be the movement that feels like it came straight from an old action-platformer, complete with no vertical aiming in a game with loads of flying enemies. Could be the lessened amount of loot combined with a timer that feels much more meaningful making it difficult to feel *quite* as powerful as you want to be. Could be the indescribably beautiful soundtrack, crushing, contemplative and adrenaline pumping all in equal measure (seriously, this shit is GOLDEN). Could just be that it's a game I sunk a ton of time into with friends a decade ago. Am I just nostalgic? Please don't tell me I'm nostalgic for a game that came out in 2013, it wasn't that long ago.

The remaster itself is pretty great in that it polishes up a couple areas that desperately needed it - multiplayer no longer needing port forwarding or some other solution, and actually being able to use mouse buttons for keybinds (I don't have to use the fucking arrow keys for my attacks any more!!!!). Both of those pretty much justify this game, but it comes with a whole host of additions that... don't really do that much for me? I like porting the alternate skill system over to 1, but the unlock requirements are weird! Take your choice of Providence Trials (minigames involving the new skill, cool concept but mostly feel a bit gimmicky, unsatisfying and they probably don't let you have health regen), or.. Kill 3000 enemies as [character], pick up 300 items as [character]! I loathe timesink stuff like that so much that I still pushed through all the trials I have so far even though I haven't really enjoyed any of them. New enemies are cool though, and sand crabs are finally recognisable as crabs instead of giant walking rocks.

...and so they left, more bustling fungus than man.

Man. I have spent the most time and possibly attachment to this one. It grew up with me in highschool. It got a few of my friends into Tekken let alone fighting games. The amount of updates this got and it's quick DLC did wonders to keeping it alive and somehow the best selling Tekken rn. The rage arts were a massive huge change that helped with lower skill and higher skill players. Giving you options to keep it for a buff. Use the art for a high damage super move or the drive to get a massive combo opener or extender. All while the less health you have the more damage you do is so badass. This game definitely has the hypest final bosses and the music is exceptionally hard. Akuma although broken was so fucking cool to have along with geese noctis and fucking negan. Customisation got heaps varied and the bowling came back. I just wish it wasn't ugly or took literally like a whole minute to load in. The online is really roigh nowadays and even back then to other fighting games. But I still will miss you Tekken 7. You made so much of who I am today. Thank you for all the hype moments and screaming with my friends. Along with absolutely killing my fingers

60 characters?!?! Like 30 stages?!?! Tag combos and throws galore, shit tons of unique outros. Super expensive pre render cutscenes for everyone. Loads of customisation. Changeable music tracks. This game has it all and yet failed hurts me so much cause it's also imo a lot prettier than t7. I've had the highest sugar rush each time I play this and I only wish to more. The only reason it's shy of the 5/5 is to battle online they baked in delay to the games engine even offline which hurts. It's noticeable when U play any other Tekken but it can't help be one of my favourites still

While I haven't beaten the story mode as it's a little ass although a different style of campaign I'd admire the attempt of. I think I've played enough to gather an opinion on this pretty solid next gen Tekken. While it does falter a little of how rich in polish and content (and possibly presentation at least for some situations)Tekken 5 was, this one I can still throw down at any time. The moves continue to expand and grow and the stages get quite the expansion to with breaks and higher detail. The customisation that Tekken is known gets introduced here and it's shockingly rich for an first attempt. Rage is introduced and an welcome addition Into Tekken comeback mechanic. Bob's in this one and he bustin also electric fountain fucks. The load times are a bit smelly amd some models and lighting look a little ugly in some areas and levels. But playing it on a modern series X loads near instant. I still remember loving this one growing up from the jump to Tekken 4 and 6 had me hyped as a kid. But the next game arguably gave us way more. Perhaps too much

This was solid, there's a lot of characters who all have very distinct identities and different playstyles, and the core rogue-like gameplay of just getting stronger and blowing through waves of enemies is very satisfying once you get going, but for me there's a lot more bogging it down than most roguelikes like Slay the Spire/Spelunky 2 etc.

For one thing, finding the portal to the next level is just kind of a hassle. Once you've played enough, you can start to learn where they spawn, which streamlines things quite a bit but when you're first starting out you can spend minutes of boring, slow, listless wandering around the level looking for it. Supposedly they're supposed to be made easier to find by little black and red particles in the sky above them, but this is made almost completely redundant by the game's art direction. Many weapons and the game's effects and particularly a specific enemy type called The Imp also give off black and red particles, so.

Not to mention, the portal was bugged for me on more than one occasion. Appearing half inside and half outside a shipping container in Level 3 and generally appearing in ways and places they weren't supposed to. A character I was supposed to be able to unlock by buying also quite literally just did not physically appear where I was supposed to able to buy them either. I don't think the art direction or soundtrack is "bad", in fact it's very clear what they were going for. The prog rock soundtrack works well for a big sci-fi "fight the horde" game like this but it kinda just wore on me over time, just not my kinda thing - personal preference, and the neon art style is just kinda not for me too.

Risk of Rain 2 also doesn't give you as many interesting decisions or choices to make as most roguelikes. In Slay the Spire you choose cards and rewards and mulligan your opening hand, in Risk of Rain there's only one kind of drop that lets you "choose" which buff you want, but even they're just represented by pictures with no information attached, again meaning a new player unfamiliar with which icon represents which buff isn't gonna be able to make an educated decision or really feel like the limited choice they had mattered. Otherwise the buffs are random, I suppose there's some inherent enjoyment to be had in just having to work with what you've got, but I'd prefer more agency. It's still fun! Very satisfying and a great game to just switch your brain off to, but I've played better.